Commissioner Franz has led DNR since 2017. In that time DNR has changed the way it fights wildfires, focused on building community resilience, launched a far-reaching forest health plan, and more. Commissioner Franz is committed to ensuring our public lands are healthy and productive and can help us mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis. 

 

The Commissioner has also prioritized supporting every community in the state. The lands she manages sustainably generate hundreds of millions of dollars for schools and public services, like libraries and hospitals. And she has allocated millions of dollars to spark economic opportunities in struggling rural communities, supporting innovative industries like mass timber, investing in clean energy, and fighting for a strong future for our families. She knows that our working lands – and the communities that depend on them for family-wage jobs – are integral to our success as a state, and she is investing in their success.

 

Below are highlights from her first 6 years in office.

 

 

DNR is committed to labor standards and practices that promote family-wage careers and multi-generational economic opportunities. Social equity in labor programs and projects instituted by Washington jurisdictions have proven successful in fostering family-wage careers for workers-in-training, residents of economically disadvantaged communities, and those underrepresented in particular industry sectors in Washington – which aligns with the Department’s equity and social justice goals and grows the skilled workforce that is necessary for our state to continue to prosper. 

 

Under Commissioner Franz, Project Labor Agreements (PLA) are now utilized for clean energy projects on DNR-managed lands. The department has also included labor peace agreements in commercial leases, such as the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle.

 

With funding from HB1168, which Commissioner Franz secured with unanimous support from the legislature in 2021, DNR’s Correctional Camps Crews are now paid the state minimum wage, not only providing members important job skills for when they are released, but also savings to help them transition from prison.

 

After touring the damage in the town of Malden, where a Labor Day 2020 firestorm leveled most of the town, Commissioner Franz directed DNR to work with communities to build resilience throughout the state. The Wildfire Ready Neighbors program was developed to help property owners and local fire districts integrate defensible space and home hardening approaches to make our communities more wildfire ready. Launched in 2021 in six Eastern Washington counties, more than 4000 participants have already pledged more than 20,000 actions to make their homes and communities more wildfire ready. In 2023, DNR launched the program in three counties on the western side of the state and, with funding from HB1168, the agency will expand to five additional at-risk counties. 

 

DNR is also addressing fire risks with home weatherization approaches to help mitigate smoke and air quality concerns. Home assessments will be accompanied by direct connections to weatherization grant programs to help Washingtonians make home improvements, such as ventilation systems, insulation, and sealing air gaps and leaks in the home. As a key strategy within the DNR Wildland Fire Protection 10-Year Strategic Plan, the agency continues to help communities identify smoke respite areas and utilize community buildings as clean air and cooling centers. 

 

Creosote-treated pilings and abandoned structures leech toxic chemicals that pose serious threats to our health and significantly impact marine ecosystems. Since 2007, DNR has removed 14,461 pilings and more than 21,300 tons of creosote from Puget Sound. Commissioner Franz has increased the pace and scale of this program, working to pass with legislation in 2020 and 2023 to increase critical funding. This leadership has reduced environmental damage, minimized navigations hazards, and held down costs for taxpayers.

 

Commissioner Franz knows that some communities face greater health and environmental hazards – and income and race are likely to determine access to healthy environments. These environmental impacts compound upon economic and social inequities. DNR is committed to providing provides family-wage, high-demand career opportunities and investing in communities historically underserved communities. As we work to increase health equity, the Commissioner is focused on ensuring DNR’s programs and outreach are centered in communities that are disproportionately affected by risks like poor air and water quality and wildfire risks. The agency also supports outdoor workers, those older people, those experiencing persistent health challenges, and those experiencing unstable housing arrangements.

 

Trees and tree canopy are essential to healthy communities and healthy people. They lower the temperature in neighborhoods and help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Under Commissioner Franz, DNR has expanded its Urban Community Forestry program from two fulltime employees to nine positions. In 2022 DNR granted more than $550,000 to communities throughout the state to develop strategies to plant more trees to reach tree equity across the state.

 

Affordable housing for our working families is critical for the Evergreen State, and our local wood products can be part of the solution. Under Commissioner Franz, the Department of Natural Resources is finding ways to use state managed lands in key transitional or urban areas to help address our housing crisis.  

 

Commissioner Franz worked with the legislature to unanimously pass HB 1168 in 2021, which has enabled DNR to grow investments in landscape-scale restoration and forest treatment projects, built a prescribed fire program, invested in critical fire suppression technologies, and substantially increased staffing to quicken the pace and scale of forest health treatments. Funding to organizations, agencies, conservation districts, and local governments has fostered robust fire preparedness, community resilience, and forest restoration projects statewide. 

 

DNR is increasing natural resources workforce development through education and training programs. This includes school-based nature education, high school hands-on training, pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs, Corps programs, and natural resources degree programs. This provides social and environmental benefits to working families in Washington, forest and natural resources sector industries, our natural ecosystems, and the interests of the State, counties, and cities. 

 

Wildfires pose imminent risks to lives, infrastructure, and entire ecosystems – and climate change is already increasing the intensity and severity of fires throughout our state. Under Commissioner Franz’ leadership, DNR has changed the way we fight wildfires – and it’s working. DNR has grown the state’s wildfire fighting force, now with more than 600 full-time and seasonal firefighters, invested in new and upgraded equipment like engines, helicopters and planes, and strengthened partnerships with federal, tribal, and local governments on training and forest health.

 

Commissioner Franz championed HB1168, working with legislatures to secure unanimous passage in 2021. This landmark legislation provides $500 million over four years to support forest health and wildfire prevention and suppression. Funding from HB1168 has enabled DNR to transfer more surplus vehicles to local fire districts, invest in new equipment, hire more firefighters, and invest in more forest health treatments throughout the state.

 

DNR supports local fire districts, municipalities, and tribal governments with ground-level and aviation wildfire suppression resources. DNR also works with the National Weather Service to provide fire weather forecasts and fire precaution levels for the public, firefighters, forest landowners, and the forest industry.

 

In 2017, Commissioner Franz launched the 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan, which set the goal of completing forest health treatments on 1.25 million acres. Since then DNR and its partners have treated nearly 500,000 acres of state, federal, private, and tribal lands and conducted prescribed burns on 121,000 acres, putting the agency years ahead of schedule and 40% of the way towards reaching that goal. 

 

At a time when it seems like more people are fighting over our forests than fighting for them, Commissioner Franz is a true champion for working forests. The Commissioner recognizes the significance that our working forests hold for rural economies, a consistent supply of sustainable wood products, and our environment. The Commissioner has set a goal to conserve one million acres of working and natural forests by 2040, and is exploring innovative ways to increase acquisition of working forests to keep them working through the use of carbon markets, Climate Commitment Act Funding, and creative partnerships. 

 

DNR has conserved more than a million acres of state trust land, and manages more than 167,000 acres across 58 Natural Area Preserves and 39 Natural Resources Conservation Areas throughout the state. The Natural Area Preserves Act (NAPA) passed in 1972 and in honor of its 50th year, Commissioner Franz called for greater investment in the program in order to scale up conservation of essential areas, slow the trend of permanent conversion, and increase the health of our existing natural areas. 

 

Commissioner Franz knows how vital these areas are to the preservation of key species and ecosystems, and now, so does the rest of Washington. Recently, the news outlet Crosscut featured DNR’s Natural Heritage and Natural Areas programs and identified that “DNR’s Natural Areas program is critical for preserving native biodiversity in the state.”

 

From the wood we use to build our homes, to the food we feed our families, every person across Washington is dependent on the production of goods in rural communities. Commissioner Franz spearheaded the Rural Communities Partnership Initiative aimed at increasing economic opportunity in rural areas through strategic investments in projects that simultaneously address a need in the community and create jobs. The Commissioner also works to ensure that any actions taken on state lands consider the potential downstream impacts on rural communities, and works with stakeholders across the state to keep communities whole and thriving.

 

Washington state is abundant in rich natural resources that provide good jobs and economic prosperity. Since taking office in 2017, Commissioner Franz has led the way in sustainable management that produces economic growth while protecting the lands and waters we rely on. DNR’s product sales and leasing provides millions in revenue to hospitals, counties, and schools, while producing jobs and feeding a growing economy with access to sustainable, local products. Commissioner Franz is committed to ensuring that DNR’s management of public lands continues to drive economic growth in the state while maintaining healthy working lands and waters.

 

We provide diverse and high quality recreational opportunities that foster engagement from all communities, promote a strong sense of environmental stewardship, and enrich the quality of life in Washington. Commissioner Franz leads DNR in managing diverse recreation across 3.3 million acres of state trust lands – that includes everything from hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding to paragliding, rock climbing, and off-road vehicle riding. Our recreation opportunities take place in healthy forest ecosystems that we also manage for timber production. The funds we earn from our sustainable working forests generate revenue for local county services, public school construction, and universities.  Our state trust lands do more than host our adventures, they also support the people of Washington.

 

The Cypress Island Net Pen collapse made it clear that dangerous aquaculture practices threaten our fragile environment and native salmon. In 2022, Hilary Franz put an end to harmful net-pen aquaculture in Washington State by canceling lease renewals. Now, the Commissioner is working with partners to bring more sustainable forms of aquaculture to the state, providing jobs while protecting the environment.

 

In 2018 Commissioner Franz stood up for Washington’s communities and coasts by pushing back on Trump administration plans to open up all US coasts to oil and gas drilling. Commissioner Franz made it clear to Trump administration officials that DNR would reject the permits and easements needed to enable drilling off our coasts. As she said at the time, “We didn’t invite you here, and we don’t want you here.”

 

Creosote-treated pilings and abandoned structures leech toxic chemicals that pose serious threats to our health and significantly impact marine ecosystems. Since 2007, DNR has removed 14,461 pilings and more than 21,300 tons of creosote from Puget Sound. Commissioner Franz has increased the pace and scale of this program, working to pass with legislation in 2020 and 2023 to increase critical funding. This leadership has reduced environmental damage, minimized navigations hazards, and held down costs for taxpayers.

 

DNR is a leader in protecting and conserving our riparian habitats and ensuring healthy watersheds across the state. Under Commissioner Franz’s leadership, DNR continues to provide healthy riparian habitats across the state through projects like the Forest Riparian Easement Program while embodying a systems-focused, watershed scale perspective to riparian management. 

 

Salmon Recovery
For centuries, salmon have defined Washington, but today our salmon are in crisis. That’s why Commissioner Franz developed DNR’s Watershed Resilience Action Plan, a decadal salmon-recovery strategy for the Snohomish Watershed. The Action Plan, which DNR is implementing right now, highlights the important connections between salmon, ecosystem health, and the residents of the watershed. While the WRAP is just beginning, it represents an important step towards healthy salmon runs - and healthy people - within our state.

 

Our underwater forests and meadows support rich marine ecosystems, which are vital for local economies and the cultural ways of life people in Washington have practiced for millennia. In 2022, Commissioner Franz championed legislation that gave DNR the ability to conserve and recover 10,000 acres of this vulnerable habitat within our state that will ensure healthy habitats in our waters.

 

Derelict and abandoned vessels and structures threaten public and environmental health by polluting waters, damaging ecosystems, and preventing navigation. Commissioner Franz is dedicated to keeping our waters clean, healthy, and navigable. Under Commissioner Franz’ leadership, DNR is ramping up our ability to remove and remediate hazardous derelict structures.

 

Commissioner Franz is ensuring that DNR is doing everything we can to help meet Washington’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas levels by 95% by 2050. Under her leadership, DNR is reducing the agency’s carbon emissions and increasing the scale of our carbon removal efforts. We are accelerating innovative and scalable technologies across our fleet, agency facilities, and EV charging infrastructure. We plan to transition our fleet of over 1,600 vehicles to hybrid or full electric models and have installed more than 31 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across our regional office locations. With DNR acting as an early adopter of electrification technology, our agency will be instrumental in supporting statewide net-zero policy goals. 

 

Washingtonians continue to see a rise in both frequency and severity of extreme weather. To address these challenges, Commissioner Franz released DNR’s first ever Plan for Climate Resilience. A Commissioner’s Order directed agency leadership and staff to take all practicable steps within our existing authorities, and as guided by DNR's Plan for Climate Resilience, to incorporate climate change considerations into all relevant decisions, policies, procedures, and operations. 

 

Since the Plan for Climate Resilience was released in 2020, the agency continues to prioritize and expedite implementation, scaling up and building out measurable and sustainable goals to benefit Washington and combat global climate change. Through platforms such as the landowner assistance portal, the Carbon Playbook, and comprehensive GIS data and databases, DNR leverages expertise and innovative technical tools to advance climate resilience across our lands and waters.

 

Commissioner Franz is a leading voice when it comes to understanding and capitalizing on the opportunities that our natural and workings lands provide to mitigate climate change. DNR’s work on carbon inventories both in forests and in harvested wood products is foundational for the state, and is routinely used by agencies and other entities. In April 2022, the Commissioner announced a first-of-its-kind carbon project on state lands, and in 2023 has tirelessly fought for the agency to have clear and uncomplicated authority to sell carbon credits directly. With this authority, we’ll be able to contribute high quality, local carbon offset projects that also benefit schools and counties through our trust beneficiaries.

 

Under Commissioner Franz’ leadership, DNR has built a robust clean-energy program to help combat the climate crisis and create clean energy jobs. DNR leases land for a variety of clean energy projects on the lands we manage across the state, with a goal to lease DNR-managed land for 500 megawatts of solar energy development by 2025. In 2019, DNR entered into its first-ever lease for solar power development. Revenue generated through these leases help support schools, counties, and critical services across Washington state. We promote development of clean energy facilities on state-owned lands while ensuring that it does not negatively affect cultural resources, prime agricultural land, critical wildlife habitat, or rare plant communities. 

 

Under Commissioner Franz’s leadership, DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry program took its first major step towards incorporating environmental justice and salmon recovery into the program’s core mission. DNR-requested legislation in 2021 to modernize the Evergreen Communities Act and make historic investments in areas of highly impacted communities that have borne the brunt of the impacts of climate change, including extreme heat. House Bill 1216 ensures that 50% of funding from the program supports these communities. 

 

Under Commissioner Franz’ leadership, DNR’s Urban Community Forestry program has grown from 2 fulltime staff to 9 positions. In 2022 DNR awarded more than $550,000 to communities throughout the state to plant trees and improve tree canopy. In 2023 DNR collaborated with American Forests to deploy a tool to speed our work to achieve tree equity throughout the state. Commissioner Franz understands the power of trees to improve the health of people and communities. She is committed to expanded DNR’s programs to ensure that all Washingtonians have access to trees and greenspaces in their neighborhoods.